The last time we were in touch, Pete Vazquez was leaving town to embark on a career as a mercenary soldier. At least that was my understanding. (He prefers the term "protective opportunist.") What seemed for sure was that the chef had had enough of the restaurant business.

Jennifer Zdon/The Times-PicayunePete Vazquez at Bacchanal in November 2005.

Vazquez was never able to reopen Marisol, his ethnically omnivorous restaurant in Marigny, following the levee breaches.

Instead he spent the chaotic post-Katrina months setting up his mobile gas stove wherever he could find an audience. (The inspiration for Janette Desautel, the chef in the HBO series “Treme,” may be Susan Spicer, but when the character goes rogue after the closing of her restaurant, she’s channeling Vazquez.)

Vazquez’s most popular venue was the yard behind Bacchanal Fine Wine and Spirits, where he helped lead a charge of New Orleans chefs eager to ply their trade outside traditional restaurant kitchens – a local trend that has yet to cool down. Just try finding a table on a mild Sunday night.

It was understandable when Vazquez showed signs of burn-out and eventually left town. But whatever caused him to split was apparently not enough to keep him away. The chef has resurfaced in, of all places, River Ridge, specifically Mimi’s of River Ridge, where Vazquez is teaming with chef-owner David Whitmore.

Vazquez is updating Mimi’s Italian menu with dishes such as fried softshell crab with, according to a press release, white clam risotto and handmade gnocchi sautéed with escargots, prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

In an e-mail, the chef said he and Whitmore are "taking baby steps" toward reinventing Mimi's food and decor. That said, he claims to have already stuffed some pigs' heads. And duck kidneys are "en route."

“I'm back with a vengeance,” Vazquez wrote. “I've got lots of new tricks up my sleeves.”

Mimi's of River Ridge is at 10160 Jefferson Hwy., River Ridge, 504.737.6464